But it beggars belief when we hear that parents are deliberately putting the lives of their children at risk by blatantly ignoring the safe crossing times.

Only an idiot could fail to notice not only the enormous warnings displayed at each end of the causeway, but also the graphic photos of cars submerged up to their roofs, which were posted to try to deter this sort of thing.

And as usual, it falls to the RNLI to launch their lifeboats and rescue the often dumbfounded travellers from the safety of the refuge box, perched on stilts above the flooded sands.

The valuable resources of this excellent organisation, which relies entirely on goodwill and charitable donations and is crewed by volunteers, could be put to better use than bailing out negligent motorists and their families.

But there is a far more present danger when the lifeboats are called upon to help out the hapless.

Should there be a real emergency elsewhere on the Northumberland coast – packed with thousands of visitors at this time of year – the consequences of having been diverted unnecessarily to Holy Island could end up costing someone their life.

The magnanimous RNLI, however, says it will always turn out to calls from the causeway, because its job is to save lives wherever there is danger.

If only the handful would actually stop putting themselves and, more importantly, their passengers in danger, the better it will be for all of us.